NEW PROSPECTUS SHARES COMMUNITY CLIMATE INVESTMENT POTENTIAL

As Bristol accelerates towards becoming a low-carbon city, how do we ensure that access to funding and investment is available and accessible for Voluntary, Social Enterprise and Community (VCSE) organisations across our city, enabling them to act, whilst delivering valuable co-benefits, alongside carbon emissions reduction and nature recovery?

On Friday 23 May at We the Curious, we launched Bristol’s first Community Climate Action Prospectus, demonstrating just some of the potential for community-led climate and nature action to be accelerated with investment.

The prospectus was created by Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership as part of Bristol’s Net Zero Investment Co-Innovation Lab, led by Bristol City Council and funded by Horizon Europe. It brings together eight compelling case studies and potential projects responding to priorities highlighted in Community Climate Action Plans, that were co-created with communities.

The project set out to explore and create a series of financial mechanisms to speed up and increase investment in climate action and support zero carbon business growth, incorporating learnings from the successful Bristol City Leap partnership accelerating decarbonisation of the city.

Alongside launching an investment platform that citizens can invest in from as little as £5 (Bristol Climate Action Investment), and a new venture fund, Green Growth West (from BBRC), this new prospectus was created by Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership and our partners to spark new conversations with investors or funders seeking a financial return and/or social/environmental impact.

Working with social enterprise advisor, Thomas Beale of Indigen, and with support from BBRC’s partnerships manager, Molly Byrne, eight community organisations developed investible propositions that offer tangible opportunities to decarbonise; and increase community resilience. Some of these have been based on priorities they identified as part of the Community Climate Action project, others are new ideas that have grown out of the possibilities highlighted in the workshops that have been offered as part of the project.

BRICKS, Hillfields Community Garden and Windmill Hill City Farm are seeking investment for decarbonising their buildings; Ambition Lawrence Weston are raising funds for an Energy Learning Zone to build on the huge success of their community-owned wind turbine; Southmead Development Trust are looking for a finance model to fund the installation of a solar array on the roof of their community-led housing development; Eastside Community Trust want to consolidate and optimise their early decarbonisation initiatives to ensure they are delivering maximum benefits; Knowle West Media Centre have a truly exciting proposal to secure land for community benefit while leveraging natural capital markets; and Heart of BS13 are seeking investment in their Flower Farm social enterprise, which attendees were lucky enough to get a taster of during the launch event, demonstrating the creativity and impact that this event aimed to celebrate.

The prospectus can be downloaded here

We hope this prospectus provides a conversation starter and we would love to hear from funders and partners looking to:

• support local supply chains,
• create new opportunities for local employment, and secure social and environmental benefits in Bristol’s communities,
• extend communal use and ownership of new assets through models such as social enterprise, as part of Bristol’s just transition
• deliver upon their social value and Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) commitments

To discuss this opportunity please get in touch with us: contact@bristolclimatenature.org